[xxxix] Leechdoms against erysipelas {bacterial infection of Streptococcus pyogenes} of every kind and fellons, and bone diseases […] the disease called ”fig” {???}. Drinks and salves for all sort of erysipelatous affections. 28 receipts.
1. Here are leechdoms for erysipelatous inflammations of every sort, and fellons, and leg diseases of every sort ; eight and twenty in number.
2. Take leaves of green marche, rub or bruise them with the lees of vinegar, smear with that the sore places. For erysipelas which hath broken into blains, take sour curds, work them to a chalder, and foment with the chalder. For erysipelatous inflammations again, take dregs of beer, and soap, and the white of an egg, and old groats, lay this on against erysipelatous swellings. Against bursting of erysipelatous inflammations, let the man sit in cold water till the sore becometh numbed, then get him up, then strike four scarifying slashes about the pocks on the outside, and let the lymph run as it will. Work thyself a salve thus take brownwort, and marsh gall, or marsh gentian, and red nettle, boil in butter, and smear and bathe with the same worts.
3. For the same, take an earthworm* [Bjorn Haldorson {I'm not sure who this is} mentions this treatment : the earthworm is called A'mumadkr {I couldn't find any references to this species}, because erysipelas is usually cured by it], rub it thoroughly fine, add vinegar to it, bind it on and smear therewith. For the same, take savine, rub to dust, and mingle with honey and smear therewith. For the same, take roasted eggs, mingle with oil, lay on, and foment freely witli leaves of beet. Again, take a calfs sharn, that is clung, or an old bullocks, still warm, and lay it on. Again for this same, take harts shavings, shaven off the fell or skin with pumice, and wash, that is maceraie, with vinegar and smear therewith. Again, take a boars gall, if thou have not that, take gall of another swine, rub and smear with that where it is sore. For that ilk, take a swallows nest, break it away altogether, and burn it with its dung and all, and rub it to dust, mingle witli vinegar and smear therewith. For the same, heat cold water with a hot iron, and bathe frequently with that{I wonder what's the idea behind this?}. For hot erysipelatous humours, take betony, and wormwood, and fennel, rub them into ale, and radish with them, give the mixture to the sick man to drink. For hot erysipelatous humours, take fen ompre, that is water dock {???}, and the small clote, that is, cleavers, boil in goats milk and sup.
{The receipt continues with different variations, the ingredients staying pretty much the same}:
Against hot erysipelatous humours, take horchound, and everlasting, and alexanders, and betony, and celandine, and charlock seed, drink them in wine. A salve : take blooms of elder, and the crop, or bunch or umbel, boil them in butter, and smear therewith ; if it will, that is, if it shew a tendency to form ratten or purulent matter, smear with yolk of egg ; smear over with that, and dry it by gledes, or hot coals, till that it be hard, then wash away and smear again with the salve. For hot erysipelatous eruptions, take dregs of wine, mingle with raw eggs, and with a feather smudge it on, and wash not till the place he hole. For oozing erysipelatous blains, take knee holly, that is, butchers broom, much ere other meat, daily for the wound, and put together bullocks gall, honey, soot; cure therewith. For the same, that is, for the disease called fig {???}, take for a bath that sort of "lust- mock " which beareth crops or flower bunches, and for a salve, burn a wolfs jaw, the left one, and the teeth apart, mingle with honey and smear therewith, and lay on fresh cheese, mingle the other ingredient with milk, sup for three mornings nine sips. For leg disease, that is hot red blains, take nineteen snips of helenium, and nine of " ontre,” {???} and eleven of red sedge, put them in ale and drink much ere than thou eat; and seethe the helenium alone till that it be tender, pound together, smear therewith where the disease may bo striking out. A drink for fellons {???} ; cummin, pepper, costmary, seed of marche, seed of black hellebore, pound well, put into ale. A drink or potion for fellons pound in ale or seethe celandine, and elecampane, bishop wort, githrife. A drink for fellons ; sigsonte, onion, leek, the netherward part of waybroad, boil all in water and sweeten with honey. A drink for that ; take the netherward part of the small cloverwort, boil in ale or in beer. A drink for fellons ; boil in ale fennel, bishop wort, elecampane. A drink for a f'ellon; boil in ale or in beer springwort. A drink again for a fellon ; boil in ale cropleek, penny royal, wormwort.
A drink for fellons ; marche, attorlothe, betony, rue, sedge, " ontre," clote, bishop wort, work them up in ale. Again for fellons, take, to begin, a hazel or an elder stick or spoon, write thy name thereon, cut three scores on the place, fill the name with the blood, throw it over thy shoulder or between thy thighs into running water and stand over the man. Strike the scores,
and do all that in silence. For fellon, catch a fox, strike off from him while quick, that is alive, the tusk, or canine tooth, let the fox run away, bind it in a fawns skin, have it upon thee.
* From: _http://www.e2121.com/herb_db/viewherb.php3?viewid=500&setlang=
Earthworm contains lumbrofebrine, lumbritin and terrestro-lumbrolycin. It also contains nitrogen-containing substances and xanthine, adenine, guanine, choline, etc.
Luckily, one can still read it in Google archive or in this thread.
